We’re now starting our Druridge Bay trips with a riparian woodland walk, and Nuthatches were feeding noisy fledglings in the branches overhead, Blue, Great and Coal Tits were all busily gathering mouthfuls of insects, a Common Buzzard was soaring just above the treetops in the bright sunshine and Bullfinches betrayed their presence by calling and drawing attention to themselves.

Avocets proved to be the star of the show again but a good selection of other waders included Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, a very white Ruff, Dunlin, Curlew, Lapwing and a Wood Sandpiper delicately picking its way along the edge of a muddy puddle as Brown Hares loped along at the other side of the marsh. Speckled Wood, Common Blue and Small Skipper butterflies and a selection of dazzling damselflies added invertebrate interest to the afternoon but they were outshone by a micro-moth. Nemophora degeerella isn’t exactly a name that trips off the tongue, but it’s a strikingly marked little moth and, in the case of the male, has what look to be unfeasibly long antennae. Shelduck ducklings were wandering off and ignoring their parents and Great Crested Grebes demonstrated remarkable prowess, surfacing with fish after every dive, only to be pestered by Black-headed Gulls looking for an easy meal. Strikingly yellow and seasonally appropriate, both Yellow Wagtail and Yellowhammer flew by and Reed Bunting as well as as Sedge and Reed Warblers sang from nearby reed beds as Swifts, Swallows and both House and Sand Martins carved their way through the dense clouds of flying insects in the afternoon heat haze.

In glorious sunshine we started with a woodland walk. Jays and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were characteristically quite vocal, and Coal Tits, Blue Tits and Nuthatches were feeding fledglings in the branches above our heads and a Banded Demoiselle put in a graceful appearance. We were searching for Dippers and Anne spotted one on a branch that apparently hadn’t had one on it just a few seconds earlier. We watched it for around 20 minutes as it slept, preened stretched and then vanished as it turned it’s back towards us. Among the sun-dappled branches just a few inches above the river it just blended into the background without it’s striking white breast on display.

After a picnic overlooking the North Sea, with Fulmars arcing by along the clifftop, we continued north along the bay. Avocet chicks were running around the shallows as 13 adults were either incubating, feeding or engaging in some entertaining disputes with Shelducks. In the warm afternoon sunshine damselflies were abundant and Great Crested Grebes were feeding with a single chick. At our final site for the day 33 Black-tailed Godwits were feeding close to Tufted Ducks, Mallard and Teal and as Cormorants flew out towards the sea I caught a glimpse of a dark back as it submerged out of sight. Probably a Cormorant, but always worth making sure…and there was an Otter 🙂 A great way to end the day!

A brilliantly sunny Bank Holiday Monday is the only time you’re likely to encounter anything even remotely approaching crowds of people in Northumberland, but it does happen occasionally.

I collected Marcus, Alison, Norman (Grandad) and Isobel from their holiday cottage in the shadow of the Wandylaw wind farm, and we set off for a day wildlife-watching. With it being such a sunny morning, I thought it would be worth starting with one of our trickier animals; if it’s too cold they won’t be out and about, if it’s too warm they’ll already have slithered off somewhere cooler, and if they feel the ground vibrate as you approach they’ll beat a hasty retreat. We know just the spot to see them when everything falls into place though; a warm, bare, stony patch of earth surrounded by tall grass. At first we couldn’t see any sign, but I crept through the vegetation for a closer look. Two Addersweren’t keen on this, and quickly slithered away into the long grass. The third one was much more obliging though, and I motioned for Isobel to come a bit closer. Incredibly, the snake remained coiled, and settled, for a few minutes. It eventually lifted it’s head to fix us with a baleful reptilian glare for another minute before following it’s companions into the vegetation and out of sight.

In the bright sunshine Kestrelshovered over roadside fields, Willow Warblers sang their silvery descending cadence, Chiffchaffsendlessly repeated their name, Chaffincheswere proclaiming their territories (and Isobel had done a very impressive colouring of a Chaffinchpicture), the scratchy rattle of Whitethroatsong buzzed through the warm air, flotillas of goslingspatrolled the water with their parents in close attendance and darting damselfliesadded a streak of azure to the lush green of the grass. Down on the coast, dainty Avocetsswept the water edge for morsels, Grey Plovers (probably my favourite wader, certainly when they’re in their summer finery) chased back and forth, Common andSandwich Terns roosted together, Fulmarsrode the updraft of the warm breeze along the clifftops, Eiderswere resplendent in the sunshine, and ‘wooly bear‘ caterpillars and cuckoo spitwere just the thing for a six year old to enjoy 🙂

Most entertaining though, judging by the giggling, was a Rookthat was rummaging through a bag of rubbish and found what it seemed to consider a suitable food item. That item was a (full) dog-poo bag… So disgusting that I almost titled the blog after it 🙂